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Has the Catholic faith been over-intellectualised?

By the Wider Web July 5, 20170

Since switching to the Traditional Latin Mass, I have seen that most of our modern catechetical methods are geared exclusively towards the intellect. For example, the average rich, suburban American parish now has a small handful of devoted Catholics who would not have believed in the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist had they not read a Scott Hahn book. And God bless Scott Hahn for his great intellectual work.

But notice that in the previous paragraph I purposely used the word “rich, suburban parish.” By and large, these are the decent parishes which (thankfully!) have moved past the 1970s catechesis of exclusively-social-justice materials. Formed and That Man is You and Scott Hahn “book clubs” are all great for budding intellectuals who don’t have to work 80 hours a week on a Louisiana oil barge. But what happens to the run-of-the-mill poor Catholic? How does the blue collar worker (who might be too busy to read a book by Tim Staples) receive catechesis on the sacraments?

Online editor’s note: Re-sharing an article does not signify that The Catholic Weekly endorses its content. It is meant to be food for thought. One might query this, for example: “Everything in these sacraments … taught man and woman that there exists a chasm between Creator and creature.” That is fine as far as our need for grace goes. But one wonders if their attendant rites adequately imparted to recipients an understanding of the great intimacy between God and his people. As Augustine wrote: “God is more intimate to me than I am to myself.” Likewise, articles may cause you to think about your religious practices in different ways. Wishing you good reading.